MixoMania
by Echiss the Wind
Summary: Prince Shaolan saved Princess Sakura from evil knitting set. STOP. Now cursed. STOP. Moreover, was kidnapped by blond wizard. STOP. Send Princess Sakura and godfather fairy Kurogane to rescue. STOP. This is insane. STOP. KxF, SxS.
1. Prologue

**Mixo****Mania**

***

**Ritual disclaimer**: I don't own TRC, the Clamp do, and that's good but I want more smut.

I read the series in English and in French, so the names might be a bit confusing.

At first, Mokona was to take Sakura's part, but I thought… no.

***

**Prologue**

Once upon a time lived King Sora and Queen Arashi in a faraway castle. They wanted a child quite badly and did everything they could (and we know what sacrifice this is to make) in order to procreate. Luckily, it eventually worked.

The newborn kid was named Shaolan and a big party was thrown to celebrate his birth. Looking at the royal to-do list, the King and his wife (well, mostly the King, as his wife used to stay mute and expressionless) saw that they had to invite three fairies to make the day perfect. So they invited three of them and checked the little done-box on the piece of royal paper.

When the day came, three nice fairies came to bless the child.

The first one was a pretty-blond haired yumeni called Hinoto, who was also blind and who could not walk. Sohi and Hien came by her side and she granted the child with a will strong enough to change destiny.

The second one was a gorgeous raven-haired witch called Yuuko, who drank a lot of sake before blessing the child. Maru and Moro came by her side and sang a lot when Yuuko gave the child an empty bottle of sake, granting him with "a personality a bit more serious than mine, and I want more sake!".

The third fairy did not came, as he had "another bless-the-child damn stuff to attend to, so I'm sorry for that or whatever, best wishes bla bla bla, and I'll give your child a hand if he's one day dumb enough to need it in compensation".

King Sora laughed a bit nervously at all that whereas a vein pulsed on Queen Arashi's temple (wish was her way to express infuriated anger).

*

Over the years, Shaolan grew up to be a very serious young prince, which would have been all right had he not had the dumb idea of always trying to help his beloved childhood friend, princess Sakura.

For princess Sakura was a quite dumb sweet thing herself. She was actually supposed to fall into eternal sleep after a failed knitting attempt, as she had been cursed by her rabid brother Toya, because she had forgotten to celebrate his last birthday. Yukito, Toya's lover and priest of the Clow castle, had attenuated the curse by linking it to a particular knitting set and by assuring that Sakura would not touch it. Well… at least Yukito _intended to_ hide the cursed knitting set, but Toya had come up at this particular moment and had him do _something_ that got the knitting curse _completely_ out of his mind.

And the problem was, Sakura was dumb enough (even if she was a very sweet princess indeed) to fail at being cursed. Because, as she passed by her brother's bedroom a little while after, she saw the knitting set lying on the floor (suspiciously surrounded by a bunch of priest clothes) and, as she was quietly thinking of a way to remove it safely, her guardian angel (named Shaolan) rushed on the thing to protect her and fall asleep on the spot.

As she gasped in horror, the dishevelled head of Toya and Yukito emerged from under the sheets of the bed, just in time to learn the horrid news of Shaolan's passing.

*

Fortunately, Shaolan could be awaken by a true love's kiss. Toya strongly opposed to his sister kissing the lad until Queen Arashi, said lad's mother, opposed even more strongly to such opposition.

King Sora, Queen Arashi, Prince Toya and Yukito the priest thought that Sakura kissing Shaolan would be the main problem, as she was more able to blush than to kiss.

However, they found it even more of a problem when the sleeping body of Prince Shaolan merely _disappeared_ in a pop of vanilla scenting smoke.

A slender young man stood in his place instead. His eyes where blue and his hair was blond, and he looked at them with a goofy smile.

"Well hello!" he said with a happy grin. "My name's Fay D. Flowright, and I'm glad to release you from the burden of a cursed body! I'm sure he'll be happier with me than in a royal coffin!... No needs for thanks, I'm on my way now!"

He disappeared with a strawberry scenting "pop".

"Well, that could be a problem" said Toya with a large, _large_ smile.

*

After thinking it through, the royal band decided to call for help. So, as Yukito was bandaging Toya's head (Queen Arashi had figured that punchingballing it would be the thing to do), King Sora sent a message to one of Shaolan's fairies, the one who had not come but promised to help instead.

He (he was male) arrived quite late, carrying a blood-tainted sword on his shoulder and a terrifying grin on his dark features.

"Tche", he said when he saw the royal group shaking like royal leaves. "So the boy was dumb enough to have me wasting time, ne?"

Princess Sakura, who was just as sweet as she was dumb, jumped at his neck: "Please mister fairy, sir! Help me save dear Shaolan!..."

The odd fairy removed her as if she had been some sort of embarrassing bug. "Be quiet there, girl. Now what's the deal?"

He seemed quite unhappy to have to keep his word.

"We've make a bit of research while waiting for you", said Yukito. ("Which means quite a lot", grunted Toya). "It seems like Prince Shaolan was kidnapped by a sorcerer named Fay, who lives in the Flowright Shire. And I've heard that his castle is protected by a powerful monster called… called… err, Mokona. I'm not sure what species it belongs to…"

"Mokona, eh?" said the fairyman with a scary grin. "That seems interesting enough…"

So the next morning, Princess Sakura left her castle on a tall white horse, along with the weird fairyman and a basket full of food.


	2. Fighting the Mokona

**MixoMania**

*

**Disclaimer**: Who does own TRC? Not me!!

*

**Fighting the Mokona**

"So tell me", said the fairyman after a while. "Does this Fay mage seem powerful or not?"

Sakura took a moment to reflect.

"I think he is", she eventually answered. "As he could pass by Yukito's magic barrier."

"Does he know how to fight?"

"Err… I don't know", said Princess Sakura. We didn't fight him. He just went in and out."

"Say, mister fairy, what is your name?" she asked after a shy moment of silence.

"Kurogane. Now don't start pestering me with questions."

The fairy wasn't that much of a talker, Sakura eventually noticed.

It took them almost two weeks to arrive to the Flowright Shire, and by then Princess Sakura had only figured out that Kurogane did prefer swords to magic and reading mangas to social behaviour. However, he seemed to get slightly nicer as the days passed.

*

They eventually reached Celes castle, in the centre of the Flowright Shire.

Weirdly, there was nothing to be seen there. Even the birds were quiet. In fact, one was unable to spot even one bug in the grass.

"Oh, this is sad", said Sakura. "It seems like there is no-on here but dead memories."

"Yeah", said Kurogane with a grin. "This Mage must be quite powerful."

"Well, we don't know if he did that", answered Princess Sakura.

"Who else?" said the fairyman. "Let's go in."

"All right, but beware of the Mokona."

*

As soon as they laid a foot into the castle yard, something white jumped on Kurogane, yelling: "You shall not pass!"

Kurogane took it by its bunny ears and looked at it, bewildered. "Just what the hell are you?" he asked.

"Mokona is Mokona!" exclaimed the little thing happily.

"You're just so cute!" said Sakura.

"That's not normal", said the fairyman. "It must be a trap."

"Mokona is not a trap", said the white manjuu. "Mokona is Mokona, and you shall not pass!"

"How can you say that with such a happy face!" yelled the fairyman, angered at what he thought was a really bad joke.

"Mokona is just doing Mokona's job", said the manjuu. "Mokona have to scare people away, so they won't get pass through to Fay."

"So you're this damn mage pet all right", said Kurogane with disgust. "I guess he's not that strong either."

"But you are not scary", said Sakura at the white bun. "You're very cute."

"Mokona is cute!" sang the manjuu happily. "And Mokona will not let you pass unless…"

"Unless what?" asked Princess Sakura.

"As if a white bun such as you could stop me from passing", muttered Kurogane.

"…unless Mokona wants you to!" There where hearts flashing in Mokona's dialogue.

Kurogane grunted and almost killed himself on the spot.

"If that's so", said Sakura, "would you let me pass? I have to fetch Shaolan and help him get released from his curse."

"But what would you do that?" asked Mokona with a bit of sadness.

"That would be", said Sakura with a blush, "because I love him very much, and I want him by my side."

"Oh", said the manjuu. "Then I guess Fay will comprehend. Could you tell me your name?"

"I'm Princess Sakura, from the country of Clow. But you can call me Sakura, if you want."

"That's so sweet!" exclaimed the white fur ball. "I guess that means Mokona and Sakura are now friends, right?"

"I'll gladly be your friend", smiled the princess.

The white manjuu kissed her on the cheek and then exclaimed happily: "You shall now pass! ^^."

"T'was about time", said Kurogane.

"Mokona said Sakura could pass!" exclaimed the manjuu with flailing hands. "But that does not mean you can!"

"Please, Mokona", said Sakura, "let him pass too. He's Shaolan godfather fairy."

"Mokona won't let him pass", said the manjuu, "unless he shows he's worthy of it."

"I'm worthy of it!" grunted the fairyman. "And I don't need your permission to go on."

"Of course you do!" said Mokona with a pout. "And if you try to pass by force, Mokona shall fight you!" The white fur ball'eyes opened wide at that, which made him look even cuter.

"I won't fight you", said Kurogane. "That wouldn't be fair."

"Mokona knows it's not fair, but Mokona will fight the same!" exclaimed the manjuu courageously. And then, with a cute cry, he rushed at the fairy man.

"Oh, come on", grunted Kurogane. "I can't seriously fight such a little thing!"

But then the little thing opened its mouth wide and swallowed the fairyman's katana.

"W- what?", exclaimed Kurogane angrily. "You give me that back you little…"

He rushed at the white fur ball and caught it by the ears.

"Give me my katana back!" he yelled while shaking the white ball. "Or I'll really hurt you, I swear."

Sakura put her hands over her mouth. "Oh please Kurogane-san, don't be harsh on him!"

"Mokona won't give Kurogane's katana back until Kurogane says he was wrong about Mokona!" said the manjuu happily.

"I'm not wrong about anything!" cursed the fairyman. "Now give that back!"

"Kurogane is being mean", said the manjuu seriously, "Mokona will have to punish Kurogane for being mean!"

All of the sudden, a pair of huge white wings grew up on Mokona's back, and a complex magic circle appeared beyond him.

"Mokona is going to send Kurogane in another dimension, so Kurogane will learn!"

And just like that, he swallowed him.

"Mokona, what have you done!" exclaimed Sakura with horror at seeing that the fairyman had disappeared. "I know Kurogane-san is hard to handle, but he's not a bad man- I mean, fairyman-, either!"

"Mokona did his duty", said Mokona. "Mokona's duty is to protect Fay-san from being hurt. And Mokona knows Kurogane would have hurt Fay-san."

"I understand", said Sakura, "Mokona is a good friend of the mage… But is there a way for Kurogane to come back? He's Shaolan's godfather all the same."

"That would depend on Kurogane", answered the little white bun. "Now, would you like to meet Fay-san?"

Kurogane looked around him and saw that the castle was now full of corpses. Even the Princess was stepping on one of those.

"Tche, do you really think that's going to impress me?" he said to the white manjuu.

Only the fur ball was no longer in his hand.

"Mokona, what have you done!" exclaimed Sakura with horror. "I know Kurogane-san is hard to handle, but he's not a bad man- I mean, fairyman-, either!"

"What do you mean, hard to handle", said frowning Kurogane. Then he looked at himself in order to get to understand why the princess was so upset. But he had not changed the least.

"What the hell is going on here?" he asked angrily at the white bun.

"Mokona did his duty", said Mokona. "Mokona's duty is to protect Fay-san from being hurt. And Mokona knows Kurogane would have hurt Fay-san."

"Of course I would!" smiled Kurogane. "That is _my_ duty." He frowned even more. "Oï, do you hear me?"

"I understand", said Sakura, "Mokona is a good friend of the mage… But is there a way for Kurogane to come back? He's Shaolan's godfather all the same."

"To come back?" A chill passed on Kurogane's spine. Did that meant he was… gone?

"That would depend on Kurogane", answered the little white bun. "Now, would you like to meet Fay-san?"

*

Mokona guided Sakura towards a tower and Kurogane followed along.

"Mokona can't go in there", say the white bun, "because you're only allowed in there once."

Sakura looked at the saddened manjuu.

"Why do you look so sad Mokona?" she asked. "Fay-san is allowed to get out his tower, right?"

"Yes, Fay-san is", answered the manjuu. "Once a year."

"Man, that is the hell of a curse", said Kurogane. He wondered who would have been potent enough to cast such a spell. A man worth his sword.

"Now Mokona can't go in there", said the manjuu. "And Sakura-chan can only enter once."

"I'll make it worth it", she answered.

"Good girl", approved Kurogane. He wouldn't have said it, but he grew to appreciate her a bit during his travelling with her.

"Do you want me to say something to Fay-san?" asked Sakura to the white manjuu.

Kurogane was surprised by the question. He wouldn't have thought of asking that.

"No", said Mokona. "He knows."

Sakura kissed it lightly on the ear.

"I'll tell him you're all right, then. So he won't worry about you."

"Mokona knew you where worth passing by", it said. "But you will hurt Fay-san the same."


	3. Let’s have tea!

**MixoMania**

*

**Disclaimer**: I don't own TRC! I swear!

I don't like tea.

*

**Let's have tea!**

Sakura and invisible Kurogane climbed the stairs that leaded into the castle. Sakura passed by dead bodies only Kurogane could see, and he started to wonder: how many years had this manjuu been sending people in this dimension?

And would he be able to escape it?

Bah, of course he would.

Eventually, they arrived to a large room where Shaolan and a fair-haired man where playing chest.

"Aha!" exclaimed the mage happily after moving a peon. "You're done for!"

"But Fay-san", said Shaolan with patience, "the peons don't move that way. I think you're confusing this game with another one."

"It might be", said the blond-haired mage happily. "Could you explain it to me again?"

"How comes the boy isn't asleep?" wondered Kurogane aloud.

The Mage seemed a bit surprised. Then he turned around and saw Sakura standing at the door.

"Well hello there!" he smiled. "Why don't you knock at the door and come out with a who's there joke?"

Sakura blushed. "I'm… I'm not sure how to do that, Mister Mage."

"Oh, please, call me Fay."

"My pleasure", answered the princess. "My name is Sakura."

Shaolan had stood up in emotion.

"So you're the princess he'd been talking about", say the Mage with a weird little smile.

"I guess we know what comes next", thought Kurogane.

"What about a cup of tea?" asked Fay happily.

*

They ended up with three cups full of chocolate and scones.

"That's delicious Fay-san", complimented Sakura. "Did you make them?"

"Of course", said the mage, "as I don't have much more to do."

"I sure would love to learn how to cook", said the princess with a blush. "I'm not very good at it."

"You're not a bad cook either!" exclaimed nicely Shaolan. Fay chuckled.

"So much love", sighed Kurogane. He looked warily at the scones. Although those were too sugary for his taste, he was getting a bit hungry. Was there nothing to eat in his realm?

"I could teach you", said Fay with a bit of hope. "I could teach you how to make those or everything else you'd like to cook."

Kurogane couldn't help but to feel a bit sorry for him.

Sakura put down her cup of chocolate.

"I'm… sorry Fay-san, but Prince Shaolan and I will have to leave eventually…"

Kurogane had expected the mage to seem saddened, but he smiled widely instead.

"Eventually? Does that mean you're going to stay with me a bit?"

Now Kurogane really felt bad for him. And then he felt angered because he had felt bad for that creepy blond.

"Well, why not?" said Sakura. "I could sent a message to my brother to say we're staying a bit. Plus, we'll have to free Kurogane-san first."

"Oh", said the mage. Kurogane would have sworn his blue eyes had glimpsed at him.

"Who's Kurogane?" asked Shaolan, confused.

Kurogane grunted.

"He's your godfather fairy", answered Shakura. "The one who wasn't there when Yuuko-san and Hinoto-hime granted you they wishes".

"My, that's a quite rude thing to do", said Fay with a mocking smile.

Kurogane sighed. Stupid blond guy. He was quite convinced now the mage was aware of his presence.

"Actually, he's not that much of a fairy", added Sakura for herself. "He'd rather fight than cast spells."

"Of course!" grumbled said fairy. "I'm a man! I fight fairly, not with those women sparkling things!"

Fay seemed amused.

"He seems fun", he said. "But he'll have to get out of where he is by himself."

"Will he be all right?" asked Shaolan (much to Kurogane's surprise).

"Of course."

Now, Kurogane just _knew_ the mage had lied.


	4. Trapped

**MixoMania**

*

**Disclaimer**: Why do I have to say I don't own TRC? Everyone knows it!

*

**Trapped**

Sakura wrote a letter to her brother to explain the situation. She was in the middle of it when she remembered something.

"Fay-san, can I ask you something?"

"Of course, dear", answered the mage while trying (failing) to beat Shaolan at chest again.

"Why is Shaolan awake?"

"Ah, but because I lifted the curse, of course!" exclaimed the mage. "Check mat!"

"I hadn't see that coming Fay-san", said Shaolan without telling he had moved his peons wrong again.

Kurogane was sitting in a corner and getting impatient.

"Do you mean you…" Sakura didn't dare to finish the question.

"Of course not, dear", smiled Fay. "It was a simple curse to lift. I mean, it involved knitting!"

"Oh", said Sakura, reassured. "All right then."

Fay stopped looking at the chest board for a moment.

"Say, Sakura-chan?"

"Yes, Fay-san?"

"Why did you put a curse on Shaolan-kun? I mean, it seems like you care enough for him to come here and fight evil little Mokona. So why did you cursed him?"

"She didn't cursed me!" exclaimed Shaolan. "I just thought she was going to touch the knitting set so I took it, and then… Well, I woke up here. But it's not the princess's fault."

"Ah", said Fay, "so you took the curse on you because you love her."

Shaolan blushed senseless, and Sakura took the colour of roses.

"T-That's…" muttered Shaolan.

"Not true?" wondered Fay.

"No! I mean… I…"

For a moment, Kurogane thought the young lad was going to pass out.

"It's okay", said Fay. "At least I know who's gonna sleep in the spare room tonight."

One could have baked an egg on both royal heads.

*

The children eventually fall asleep, after a very confusing amount of blush was provided by both parts. Fay even kissed them goodnight, which gave Kurogane the creeps. Then the mage went out the guest room to fall on his own bed.

"Hey" said the fairyman. "I know you can see me. Tell me what's going on."

"So you must be Kurogane, right?" said the blond staring right at him. "The fairy godfather."

"Yeah, that's me. And I'm kind of trapped there. So tell me, what do I do?"

"Nothing" said Fay. "No-one could ever break the spell."

Kurogane frowned. "Well, I'm going to. So tell me what's to do."

Fay sighed. Then he smiled gently. "You see, it seems quite simple. All you would have to do would be to give me a true love's kiss, or something approaching I guess."

Kurogane grunted. "I don't even know you."

"Of course", said the mage happily. "And that's not the main issue. You see, there's no food nor water in the dimension you're in. So you'll be dead very soon."

Now Kurogane just couldn't figure how he could get to even _like_ the damn wizard.

"See the corpses all around you?" said Fay. "Those are the one who failed. There're dead. Everyone of them!" He seemed almost amused.

Kurogane gave a look around him. Lots of corpses.

"Why don't you remove them?" he asked. "That's not quite welcoming in a house."

"I can't" said the mage. "I can't touch them, just as you can't touch me, or anything else than the souls of the things here."

"Do you mean I can't touch but the soul of the objects?" Kurogane asked. It seemed weird. He had not problem sitting on chairs or… well, he had actually picked up a book earlier, which had split in two, as if duplicated.

Suddenly, he noticed something even weirder.

There was another Fay in this room, which looked like a broken puppet laying on the floor in an indecent posture.

"This one looks like you", Kurogane said, startled.

"Ah, you found it already…" the actual Fay seemed a bit saddened.

"This one is my own soul. My duplicate, my twin. That's a quite long story."

Kurogane grunted. He was not a fan of long stories.

"Tell it to me the same", he said. "'might help me to get out."

"It might or might not", smiled the mage. "See, I was on the verge of death some day, and the one who loved me tried to save my life. So they put me in this tower and cast the usual "true love's kiss" spell on me."

Kurogane grunted again. Silly magicians.

"However, as they did not want people to take advantage of it, they only allowed people in the tower once."

"That's stupid", said Kurogane. "People change."

Fay smiled. "My whole story is a stupid mistake. I should have died, and I didn't. But the ones who loved me eventually deceased. I was left alone."

"Waiting for the charming prince. Again, stupid story."

Fay laughed. A tiny, clear laugh, something that reminded Kurogane of crystal.

"Well that is what I though, so I tried to put an end to it. But the spell was too strong, so I didn't die."

Kurogane cleared his throat. He wasn't sure he condemned this attempt. Yet.

"However, Mokona was sending someone where you are when I tried to kill myself, and my soul was swallowed in there too."

"I guess that makes it even more difficult to rescue you, then", the fairyman said.

"Yes it does!" smiled the mage, happy to see how understanding the fairyman was.

Kurogane stopped to think for an instant.

"So, would it work if we somehow glued your soul back to your body?"

Fay smiled. "I guess we could try once more."

Kurogane was about to lift the mage' soul in the air when he realised something.

"Hey, how would that help me to get out of here?"

The mage smiled brightly.

"I don't know, Kurogane-san! I guess you'll have to care for me enough by the time you decide to kiss me!"

Kurogane was kinda sure that would _not_ happen out of the blue.

"Actually", added Fay gently, "I don't think you actually have to love me. I think really wanting me to live would be enough. I guess."

Kurogane pondered a bit more. He had to help the damn mage. That was a proof that he cared, was it? Not helping would… not help, right? He was stuck with no other option (than starving to death, that is). Grunting at his bad luck, he lifted the guy' soul in the air. It was kinda heavy for a soul, but very light for a body. Kurogane looked at it for a moment. It really looked like the mage. But it seemed to glow slightly with a sad, sad light and crying innocence.

The actual Fay shivered.

"Hum, I assume you're trying to glue us back", he said.

Kurogane noticed there was something wrong with the mage. As if he was fighting to remain calm and composed. Then the fairyman thought of something.

"Is someone touching your soul uncomfortable?" he asked.

"A bit", the mage answered.

Kurogane guessed he lied. Then he remembered the posture he had found the mage' soul in.

"Had people tried to take advantage of it?" he wondered.

"You'll do that to", Fay said. Kurogane was a bit surprised. He hadn't realised he was speaking aloud. "When you'll be starving and maddened by the lack of water. You'll hurt me too. You'll try to get out of where you are by all means, or you'll try to get revenge, or anything. That's what always happens. Even the nice ones get crazy."

Something was wrong.

"The Mokona thing said he did that to avoid you getting hurt", he said.

"He doesn't know my soul is in there", Fay answered.

"And why don't you tell him?" asked Kurogane with a bit of anger. "You know, throwing him a message like Sakura did?"

"My, Kuro-miu is quite hot-tempered, is he now?" smiled Fay amused.

Kurogane paused. "How did you call me?"

Fay looked at him innocently. "Kuro-puuu?..."

"Shut up! My name is Kurogane! Ku-ro-ga-ne you freak! I might not be much of a godfather fairy, but I'm a fearless warrior and knights kneel when they hear my name. Show some respect!"

Fay burst into laughing. "Kuro-rin doesn't like me calling him Kuro-chuu!"

A vein pulsed on Kurogane's temple. He threw the mage' soul on the bed and try to find something to hit the actual mage on the head. "You're not getting away with that!" he shouted.

"No I'm not!" Fay laughed. "I'm such a naughty mage, and you're a fierce fairy godfather!"

Angry, Kurogane came back to the bed and started arranging Fay' soul on the bed. "Now let's get rid of this!" he shouted. "Lay down!"

The mage frowned slightly when Kurogane took his soul's ankle a bit harshly. "My, Kuro-piu, that hurts", he complained.

The fairyman sighed. "Why are you provoking me?"

Fay looked at him, sapphire eyes in crimson ones.

"I don't know, Kuro-san. I guess I'm just lonely."

_But you're here_, his eyes said.

"Right", said the fairyman. "Now, I'll tell you how to fit your soul's position, so concentrate."

"All right!" the mage smiled. "That seems like fun!"

Kurogane tried his best to make both mages fit one another. "You've done this before, right?" he asked after a while. "And it never worked."

"Never", said the mage. "And soon you'll be dead and that'll be my fault."

"That's the fault of the one that cursed you."

"They loved me", Fay corrected.

"Right", said Kurogane. "Tche."

They spent the night in the same bed, both in a different dimension.


	5. Cooking lessons

**MixoMania**

*

**Disclaimer**: Seriously, are disclaimers really useful? I don't own Clamp! Err, I mean, TRC. (And no, I don't own Clamp either).

*

**Cooking lessons**

"Good morning Shaolan-kun, Sakura-chan!"

Both children opened wide eyes when they saw the large breakfast trail Fay was carrying with him.

"It's full of love for you to grow tall and strong!"

Sakura smiled as she greeted the mage good morning.

"What would you like us to do today?" asked the mage joyously. "I'm pretty sure Shaolan-kun is growing tired of playing chest!"

"No I'm not!" assured Shaolan courageously.

"We could play at something together" Sakura proposed.

"We could try cooking!" said Fay.

"I… I don't know how to cook", said Shaolan.

"That's the spirit! Let's go!"

Of course Kurogane did not join them in the kitchen. He rather laid in the bed, trying to figure out a way out of this hell.

Sometimes, he turned his head to the puppet-like soul by his side, still wondering.

Of course, loneliness had turned the mage crazy. But not that crazy either. He still seemed to make sense when he spoke.

What emanated from his soul was resignation. Maybe he was the one who did not want to live.

Kurogane noticed that the puppet-soul smelled quite nice, which is quite odd for a soul. He would have assumed they smelt of nothing. His hair felt smooth, too. It was odd for a soul to feel that real. And his fair skin felt real nice too, even a bit warm. That was strange. That was very strange indeed.

Shaloan had been a bit afraid of feeling bored, but Fay-san's way of cooking proved him wrong. It consisted on mixing up a bit of this and a bit of that "just to see the result", which most of the time resulted in a rare monster.

"Fay-san", asked Sakura after another cooking failure (and more hilarity from everyone's part), "from where do you get all this ingredients?"

"Magic cupboard!" the mage smiled. "My, Shaolan, this little baby of yours seems aliiive!"

He bursted into laughing, touching his cheek at the same time.

"We're are not really cooking, are we?" asked Sakura, concerned by the monstrous thing she had come out with.

"That depends", Fay answered, "if we're gonna eat that or not."

"I think not".

"Then I'll go fetch some of my recipes. Would you have chocolate cake?"

He was scratching his shoulder. Then he touched his lips.

"Would you rather give me a moment? I'll be right back."

"Would you please stop touching my soul, Kurogane dear?" the mage asked. "It's a bit confusing."

"I'm searching for a way out of here", the fairyman answered.

He had lifted the puppet-like body up to examine it thoroughly.

"Just don't touch… certain bits", the mage said. "Such as the lips. I told you, it's confusing me."

"What, you falling for me?"

"No, but it's just weird for one's body to receive certain bits of information when it's doing something which has no connection with it at all." Fay smiled. "So please, don't."

"I'm going through this", Kurogane answered, "when either you like it or not. I'm not gonna die of thirst or anger, you got that?"

"Fay-san, who are you talking to?" Sakura asked. She had ended up following him through the kitchen.

"Oh it's no-one really, it's a ghost. A cute, naughty, puppy ghost."

"Just who are you calling a puppy?" Kurogane grunted.

"I can see no ghost", Sakura said with astonishment.

Fay looked at her in surprise.

"Well, usually, I can see the spirits of the dead ones", she said. "But I don't see it. That's weird."

"It's fine", Fay said. "Kuro-puppy is not a very nice dog."

"So its name is Kuro?" Sakura said.

Kurogane almost collapsed in fury. "It's Kurogane, you… Mage…!"

Fay started laughing and stopped just as quickly as Kurogane gave a nasty pat on his soul's head.

"Ouch!" he exclaimed. "The bad puppy bit me!"

"Oh, he really isn't very nice", Sakura said. "Can't we do nothing about it?"

"Nothing", the mage said. "But we'll bake him a cake. The soul of a cake is not quite nourishing, but it might lower this puppy's anger."

"I don't like cakes", Kurogane said. "Cook me Japanese food."

"Or we could make some sushis", Fay said.

"Sushis? What are those?" Sakura asked.

"Something quite fun to make!" Fay smiled.

Kurogane was a bit disappointed by diner. Not that the sushis made by Fay weren't ones of the prettiest of the lot. Nor that they spelt "Bad Puppy" on his plate. It's just that they looked delicious but did taste as smoke.

Well, at least they soul did. Kurogane could have glimpses of what being a grain of rice or a bit of fish flesh was like, but not taste them.

And he was feeling hungry.

However, he felt included to the conversation (not that he minded) now that Fay sometimes insisted on getting the opinion of "Big Puppy".

"How does that puppy look like?" Sakura asked eventually.

"Well", said Fay, "it's all black, and cute, and grumpy, and he wishes to be a guard dog latter!"

"I _am_ a guard!" Kurogane barked.

"And he loooves being called by cute names such as Kuro-rin!" Fay added.

Kurogane grunted and then went for Fay' soul and pulled its ear.

"Ouch!" Fay exclaimed.

"Are you all right, Fay-san?" the princess asked.

"Yes I am!" the mage smiled. "Your cookies are simply delicious!"

"It's true", Shaolan said, "Sakura baked the nicest cookies in the world."

Sakura blushed.

"Your cake is very tasty too, Shaolan-kun", she answered.

Fay smiled and decided it was time for him to retreat in the kitchen. Something to do, he lied.

The too kids where left blushing and muttering sweet thank you.

"The sushis didn't help, right?" Fay asked when he saw Kurogane enter the kitchen.

"No, they didn't."

"I'm sorry."

"'this not your fault."

Kurogane looked around and started feeling like he really was gonna die of hunger.

"The kids are sweet."

Kurogane looked at the mage with surprise.

"I'll soon tell them to go", Fay said. "I don't want them to be here when you… well, you know."

"I told you I was not gonna die of hunger", the angry fairyman said.

"I hope so", the mage answered.

His face was not very far from Kurogane's own, and the fairyman was very tempted to compare it to his soul's. But his fingers went through Fay's head.

"I really can't touch you, aye?" the fairyman said.

"You can touch my soul", Fay smiled.

They went back from the kitchen and were utterly surprised to find that Shaolan and Sakura were holding hand.

It seemed like Shaolan had tried to hide a cut from his princess, and that she had wished to kiss it better, and now wouldn't let go.

Fay chuckled and they quickly parted.

"You'll probably be the sweetest royal couple on earth", the mage said. "But I guess now would be time for us to sleep."

He pretended that he could clean the table with magic to have them go to their room alone.


	6. That’s not love

**MixoMania**

*

**Disclaimer** : I guess I repeated enough that I did not own TRC. So I'll stop repeating myself. That's boring.

Short and painful chapter (from my point of view). Somehow those characters escaped me and started breathing air of they own. My little puppets… *sighs proudly*

*

**That's not love**

"Why are you so nice to them?" Kurogane asked. "You don't really know them."

"We're all pretending, right?" Fay smiled. "You're pretending you're not gonna die, and they're pretending they don't know they love each other…"

"And you're pretending to be happy."

"I _am_ happy. For now, until you're all gone."

Kurogane laid on the bed next to him. He had pushed Fay' soul where laid the actual Fay, and wondered.

"Do you think that could work? Pretending?"

"What do you mean?" Fay asked.

"I could pretend I love you."

"I don't think that'll work." Fay smiled. "Magic can't be fooled."

"How do we know, if we don't try?"

Fay and his soul rested almost on the same spot, and Kurogane bend a bit Fay's soul to make they faces coincide.

"Don't move", he ordered.

They he bent over to kiss him.

"That… that doesn't work", Fay said after a while.

However, Kurogane had not stopped kissing his soul, and Fay could still fell the warmth of his.

"Kurogane, it doesn't work", he repeated.

Kurogane opened his eyes and realised that Fay had sat down.

"Well of course, if you don't play along!" he shouted angrily. "Now do you really think it can work with you and your soul both in different positions?"

"But how could it be working Kuro-pu? What you're holding is the part of me that is dead."

Oh. That would explain why Fay had a soul of his own.

"Well that doesn't matter", Kurogane said. "And you get down there 'cause I'm not interested in kissing a stupid mage-like puppet."

Fay looked at him in shock.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well if I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die a happy man, and you're attractive enough to make me a happy man. Would you stop whining and lay down?"

Fay stood up.

"You'll soon realise that you don't need me being here to feel just fine, Kurogane."

He went to the kitchen, unaware that Kurogane had attempted to catch his arm and failed.

"All right then", thought the fairyman, angered.

And he went through what he had in mind, noticing happily that the mage did not knew that, from where Kurogane was, he could hear his moans all right.

*

"I guess you're done", the mage said coming back from the kitchen.

Kurogane did not answer.

"And I guess you can call yourself a happy man."

"Don't say stupid things."

"How's that stupid?" Fay asked lightly.

He regained his side of the bed and laid there on his back.

"You where not here", Kurogane said.

"How was I not here?" Fay said. "You were holding my soul."

"That's no soul", Kurogane said. "That's merely a puppet. A warm, awesome puppet and that isn't you. That isn't you at all."

"Then why didn't you pick up any other of the puppets that are lying there with you?" the mage asked.

Kurogane pondered.

"I guess that's because this one looks like you."

Fay seemed angry.

"And you would've chose this one because you've crazy about me, right?" he mocked.

"I told you why. I find you attractive. That's not love."

"No it's not."

Kurogane turned his head to look at him.

"The one thing I don't get is why the thing isn't reacting. Well, it's supposed to be your soul, right?"

"I told you. I think it's the part of me that's dead."

"Well I'm not dead", Kurogane said. "I don't belong to this realm. I want to live, right? I just don't get it. Not even one of those corpses are rotten. Not one of them is cold. It's like if they where still alive, only not living."

"As I am", said Fay, "when I'm alone."

"Bullshit."

"What do you mean?"

"I think it's all bullshit. You're alive all right. It's that thing that's not real."

"Maybe", Fay said. "Now what?"

"If I'm really gonna die, I'd like to do the real you."

Fay chuckled. "Kuro-puppy's a stallion", he said.

"Don't call me a puppy!"

Fay started laughing so much he bumped his head.

"Ouch, I think I hit the bed!" he laughed.

Kurogane scratched his forehead. "Me too." He couldn't help but smile.


	7. One happy family

**MixoMania**

*

That's so predictable. Anyways, I don't like sappy endings, so prepare yourself for something sweet (ninjas should now start running). Maybe I'll write some smut? I don't know yet. We'll see.

*

**One happy family**

When Sakura woke up one next morning, she found herself holding an arm that wasn't her own. Luckily, Shaolan hadn't noticed as he had not awoken yet.

Blushing, the young princess went out of his room and passed by Fay's bed to reach the kitchen. "Good morning Fay-san! Did you slept well?"

"Quite well Sakura-chan. Do you want to learn how to make pancakes?"

"Oh, I'd love to, Fay-san!" she replied enthusiastically. "But I'm not sure I can do it…"

"Just try, it's fun."

"Can I tell Shaolan about this, then? I know he enjoyed the cooking lesson yesterday."

"That would be very sweet of you I guess", the mage replied, concentrating on making caramel.

Sakura happily ran towards the spare room. But once in it, she hesitated about waking the young man up. Fortunately, he opened his eyes as soon as she entered. "Good morning, Sakura-hime", he said. "Have you slept well?"

"I did, thank you", she answered, blushing. "Fay-san is baking pancakes for breakfast", she added. "Would you like to join us?"

"I'll join you as soon as I'll be fully dressed", the young man answered. (Sleeping in their underwear had been quite a no-no idea for both of them, so they had borrowed some large robes of Fay's to sleep in).

As she happily went back to the kitchen, Sakura noticed something strange.

"Fay-san", she asked when she was back next to him, "when did Kurogane-san came back?"

"What do you mean?" Fay said, still checking on sweet liquid.

"Well, as he's laying on your bed now, I assumed he had to have came back at some point, ne?"

Fay looked at her in awe. "Do you mean the fairypup' is in my room right now?"

"Err… yes", Sakura answered, not quite sure to know who was referred to as a fairypup.

"Well that's quite marvellous, dear", Fay said with a wide smile. "Would you go and tell him I'll make him sushis as soon as I'm done with this?"

"Sushis?" Kurogane said, yawning (he had just entered the kitchen and only caught a bit of their conversation). "It's morning damn mage! Cook me something else".

"My, Kurogane-san is quite demanding!" Fay smiled. "So you'll have pancakes."

"Yeah, whatever. Just don't make it sugary."

Fay smiled, checking on his caramel, and Sakura smiled too, but looking at the fairyman.

"Kurogane-san, I'm so happy you came back!" she exclaimed. "I was very concerned when Mokona said you might not come back!"

Kurogane looked at her in confusion. Then he looked at Fay, whose smile was wider than wide, and scratched his head to hide his own growing smirk.

"Yeah, well, that wasn't that difficult to start with", he said.

"Really?" Sakura said. "What did you have to do?"

"I had to fight myself", the fairyman said. "And believe me, that's the hell of a rival."

"Good morning, Fay-san and, err… good morning, sir" Shaolan said from the door. "I hope I'm not intruding."

"You are not", Fay said, smiling.

"Shaolan-kun, I would like you to meet your fairy godfather", Sakura said. "Kurogane-san, this is Prince Shaolan."

"Glad to meet you", Shaolan said.

"Nice kid", Kurogane said with a pat on Shaolan's (confused) head. "When are we eating?" (He was _very_ hungry.)

"As soon as you'll have set the table, Kuro-sama", Fay answered smiling.

Kurogane frowned.

"Oh my!" the mage happily exclaimed. "Kurogane-chan doesn't know how to set a table! Shaolan-kun, would you help him with that please?"

"I will!" Shaolan answered with determination. Kurogane grunted but then took a pile of plates. The sooner the table was set, the sooner he would eat again.

Fay was very happy on this morning. Genuinely happy. Almost glowing. He and Sakura had made a huge pile of caramel dropping pancakes, and had put some honey and most sugar in little cups for people to get fat (Kurogane thought). Fay had also cooked a dark chocolate sauce bitter enough to suit the fairyman's palate. Not that he cared; he almost engulfed the table.

"Kuro-san is hungry!" the mage smiled.

"Fighting oneself is one demanding task!" Sakura affirmed with enthusiasm.

Shaolan looked at Kurogane with admiration. "You're also a fighter?" he asked. "Would you teach me one of your moves?"

"I'm no teacher", Kurogane said. "Now, mage, you surely know how to make coffee?"

Fay smiled.

*

The day passed quite quickly, and the kids went to bed once more, only with a little less blushing than before. They had cooked again, and Sakura had showed Fai how to make pretty dresses, and then Fay had shown her how to draw and some of his magic tricks (Shaolan would always be there as he loved the sweet lady). Then, all have gone to bed.

"You know you wont retain them with tricks forever", Kurogane said to Fay.

"I know. I don't ask it to last forever."

Kurogane grunted.

"You still see the corpses, right?"

"Yes, I do. Why?"

"I don't."

Fay turned aside to look at him. "What does it mean?"

"I think you're caught up in this other dimension, just as I was", Kurogane said. "Only you're also in this dimension, with us."

"You mean that I'm on the verge of them?"

"More or less, yeah."

Fay laughed. "So what?"

"Would you stop that, you damn mage!" Kurogane shouted. "If _I_ could go out of it, _you_ can do the same. Just stop believing it's real."

Fay laughed again. "It _is_ real, Kuro-sama. My soul's in there."

"That's no soul. I told you it's a puppet. Your soul is here, with me."

"With you, Kuro-chan?"

"_Kurogane_."

"But I know it's my soul, Kuro-san. It's _me_."

"It's not you, damn it!" Kurogane sighed. "It _was_ you, yeah, but you when you tried to kill yourself, not you as you are right now. It reeks of sadness and resignation."

"But _I am_ resignated. I know I won't get out of here."

Kurogane glared at him.

"I could, so you will. Don't contradict me." He took Fay by the arm. "Listen. When I was still stuck, I took a book on a shelf."

"A soul book."

"Right. Whatever. But moments later, I took it _again_."

Fay looked bewildered. "Well, that's odd."

"No, that's logical. That means our soul changes. That we have about as many souls as there are instants passing."

Fay looked at him, looked at his own soul.

"So that's not me. That's not me at all."

Kurogane sighed in relief. "Gosh, that was even more difficult than escaping the realm."

Fay smiled. "But I still see the corpses Kurogane-chan…"

Kurogane smirked. "Well, I can help you changing your mind…" He kissed him.

"My, Kuro-san _is_ a good fairy", Fay smiled. "Which makes me wonder: why are you a fairy, Kuro-san? That doesn't suit you much."

"It's 'cause of this guy at the Character's Academy", Kurogane answered. "I told him I was going for the warrior part, and that I wanted to be a ninja, but he said they where no parts left for me aside from a fairy godfather's one."

"Weird. What was is name again? Mine smirked when I told him who I was and that I was going for magician. Or bartender. Or vampire, I don't remember."

"It's name was Fei Wrong Red, or something approaching", Kurogane said.

"Well, I don't know the guy, but it seems like he's been holding on a grudge against us or something."

"Yeah, maybe."

Kurogane plunged his hand in Fay's hair. "I guess he failed."

Fay kissed him lightly. "I guess you're right."


End file.
